Florida Blue, Jacksonville, Florida: Strike the Stigma Symposium, Healthcare and Wellness Event

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In partnership with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Blue introduced an annual health and wellness event, the Strike the Stigma Symposium, for Tampa Bay students focusing on mental wellbeing and striking the stigma that hovers over the topic. Primarily geared toward high school students, and schools specifically targeted due to their higher student suicide rates, the event gave a platform to amplify conversations regarding mental health and provide trainings for teens to bring back to their peers. The symposium, which incorporated mental health professionals, non-profit organizations; Love IV Lawrence, Tampa Bay Thrives, Positive Coaching Alliance, and New Directions for Living, and a panel of highly admired local community members, provided tools and resources to help students recognize and deal with the stresses and pressures that impact their daily lives. 

Taking place just after the school year began, the Strike the Stigma Symposium directly addressed growing concerns of mental health crises in the Tampa community, including students at local high schools. Within the last three years, Hillsborough County (home to the Tampa Bay Lightning), has seen a 664% increase in citizens seeking anxiety screens, and a 472% increase for depression screens (Tampa Bay Thrives). Brooke Bennett, a 3x Olympic Champion swimmer, Derrick Brooks, NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl Champion, and Meghan Sheehan, current collegiate softball player at the University of South Florida, all offered students their perspectives and shared the pressures of their daily lives as athletes and students, providing students in attendance with insights and connections they were able to relate to. Following the panel discussion, students participated in breakout sessions where specific skills and practices to express and deal with feelings of anger, depression, insecurity, and stress, among others, were taught by mental health professionals. 

The day culminated with a call to action. Love IV Lawrence, a non-profit organization operating in the name of a loved one who lost their life to mental health crises, shared the touching and impactful story of their loss, the signs they saw, but didn’t address, and ultimately the pain they’ve dealt with. Though a truly emotional wrap-up to the day, students and volunteers alike were moved to be a part of the solution, de-stigmatizing depression, mental health, vulnerability and sickness. The call to action came in the form of certification as a Mental Health First Aider, individuals who commit to assisting those around them by taking a course in recognizing signs and actions pursuant with mental health illnesses and problems. The Mental Health First Aider program was an additional training through the schools, carrying on the conversations and impact from the initial event. 

As a result of the Strike the Stigma Symposium, 167 high school students from 6 Bay area high schools with higher-than-average mental health crisis statistics. Moreover, more than 60 of those students have gone on to participate in the Mental Health First Aider program, attaining their certification and making an even larger difference in their lives and those of their peers.